JP7178425B2 - Upper layer beam management - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to higher layer beam management. More particularly, the present invention relates to higher layer beam management, e.g. measures (including methods, apparatus and computer program products) for enabling/realizing beam failure detection or beam candidate detection in higher layers such as MAC entities. .

The present disclosure is based on indications of beam failure instances provided to lower layers, such as the PHY/L1 layer, which lead to the triggering of beam failure recovery request procedures , e.g. It relates to detecting beam failure events in higher layers, such as the MAC layer. Hereinafter, MAC and PHY/L1 are used as illustrative examples for applicable layers or entities, but not limited, to describe this disclosure.

In cellular communication systems, radio link management (RLM) and radio resource control (RRC) generally play an important role for managing/controlling radio links between user equipment elements and base station elements. there is Such a radio link is realized by one or more serving beams directed from the base station elements to the user equipment elements, and if none of the serving beams carry the control channel with adequate quality (not good enough), A radio link failure (RLF) occurs. A beam failure can thus be viewed as a case of radio link failure or an event in which one serving beam fails or all serving beams fail (thereby resulting no link, or thereby at least a sufficiently good in the sense that link quality cannot be provided).

Under the 3GPP 5G/NR standard, beam management between gNB and UE is addressed, supporting beam management procedures based on SSB/CSI-RS measurements. This includes, for example, beam failure detection and recovery procedures, and candidate beam detection procedures.

In terms of beam failure detection, beam failure detection is based on a hypothetical PDCCH BLER that can be evaluated at the physical layer (PHY) or radio layer 1 (L1), i.e. the UE's PHY, as a relevant quality measure. It is agreed that it should be determined by the /L1 entity. If the hypothetical PDCCH BLER is above a predetermined threshold, say 10% (beam failure instance condition), one beam failure instance is counted on the PHY/L1 layer. Deriving a hypothetical BLER may be based, for example, on SS block/CSI-RS signals, which include PSS, SSS (primary, secondary synchronization signals), PBCH (including PBCH DMRS) signals.

Furthermore, it is agreed that beam failure detection should be implemented in higher layers, specifically the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, ie by the MAC entity of the UE. For this purpose, the aforementioned beam failure instance condition is satisfied for the lower layers (i.e. in the slot where the radio link quality is evaluated, all corresponding resources used by the UE to evaluate the radio link quality Whenever the radio link quality for a configuration is below a threshold), the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity of the UE shall provide a beam failure instance indication to the MAC layer or entity of the UE. If the number of consecutive detected beam failure instances on the PHY/L1 layer, i.e. the number of consecutive beam failure instances indicator on the MAC layer reaches the beam failure instance threshold (set by RRC), A beam failure is detected and beam recovery is initiated on the MAC layer.

A beam failure instance counter (BFI counter) initialized (initialized) to 0 is incremented whenever a beam failure instance indicator is received from the PHY/L1 layer, and the beam failure instance counter (BFI counter) is Beam failure detection/recovery on the MAC layer (of the UE) can thus be performed in that beam failure is detected when the failure instance threshold (i.e. beam failure instance maximum count value) is reached. . A beam failure recovery timer is then started and a beam failure recovery request is sent to the serving gNB indicating a new candidate beam if one is detected. Candidate beam detection can be based on signal quality thresholds, eg, in terms of RSRP, RSRQ, hypothetical PDCCH BLER, SINR, and so on. If the measured value for the corresponding downlink RS (SS block/CSI-RS) is above a quality threshold (or below a certain value in the hypothetical PDCCH BLER case), the beam is can be considered candidate beams. If the beam failure recovery timer expires and the UE has not received a gNB response for the new candidate beam or the failed link has not been recovered, the beam failure recovery procedure is considered failed and the corresponding failure indicator is provided to higher layers. If a downlink assignment or uplink grant for the PHY/L1 layer is received in response to a beam failure recovery request before the beam failure recovery timer expires (or alternatively, if the UE has a new serving beam or PDCCH beam for receive), the beam failure instance counter (BFI counter) is reset, the beam failure recovery timer is stopped and reset, and the beam failure recovery procedure is considered successfully completed.

Briefly, beam obstruction instance indicators provided by lower layers are counted by incrementing a counter whenever an indicator is received. The counter may be reset upon receipt of a DL assignment or UL grant for the PDCCH addressed for the associated C-RNTI in response to a beam failure recovery request, ie, successful beam failure recovery. Therefore, in beam failure detection on the MAC layer, the PHY/L1 layer provides an indication whenever a beam failure instance is declared, otherwise nothing, and a counter is used for beam failure recovery. It can be reset only by receiving a DL or UL scheduling over the PDCCH as a response to the request, i.e. when performing beam failure recovery successfully, and using this to set the beam on the PHY/L1 layer. Determine if the disaster recovery request was successful.

However, there is a problem in that the counter is incremented for every beam failure instance indication without being reset, even if there was no lower layer indication of beam failure, eg, during K beam failure instances. Furthermore, no scheduling assignments for UL and DL may be received from the network that can reset the timers. This can result in the MAC layer/entity detecting beam failures and declaring beam failure events unnecessarily because the counters are not reset, leading to excessive accumulation of the number of beam failure instance indicators over time. . This causes additional and unnecessary signaling load between the UE and the gNB.

This problem can theoretically be addressed by the general principles of the RLM procedure under the 3GPP 5G/NR standard. That is, in the RLM procedure, the RRC layer/entity counts consecutive OOS and IS (Out-of-sync, In-sync) indicators from the PHY/L1 layer/entity based on a quality threshold. As an example, if the hypothetical PDCCH BLER is greater than 10% based on measurements on the RLM-RS (SS block or CSI-RS) corresponding to the beam used for PDCCH reception, i.e. the PDCCH DMRS ( When quasi-colocated (eg spatially) with the RLM-RS, the OOS is indicated to the upper layers. Other signals, depending on the network configuration, can be used for radio link monitoring. As an IS condition indicated to higher layers, the hypothetical PDCCH BLER should be below eg 2%. These values are examples only and there may be multiple threshold pairs (IS/OOS BLER values) that can be set in the UE. An RLF timer is started when a predetermined number of consecutive OOS indicators are counted, and a timer is triggered when a predetermined number of IS indicators is provided by the PHY/L1 layer/entity when the timer is running. be stopped. Therefore, the requirement is to have consecutive indices, ie if IS is indicated before the OOS counter reaches a predetermined number of consecutive OOS indices, the counter is reset.

However, such principles cannot be applied to beam obstruction detection. This is essentially because the PHY/L1 layer/entity does not indicate beam availability/recovery instances (i.e. IS indicators) but only beam failure instances (i.e. OOS indicators), so such (or corresponding This is because the IS condition is not defined. No index is given if the link quality is rated above the threshold.

Since the IS indicator and corresponding IS conditions are not defined for beam failure detection, the BFI counter (or OOS counter) is not reset even if the link quality is high or no indicator of low link quality is received for some time. However, defining such IS indices and corresponding IS conditions also for beam obstruction detection is complex. This is because in the context of beam failure recovery after beam failure detection, new candidate beams may be detected based on beam RSRP rather than observed/hypothetical PDCCH BLER (like OOS). be. So the relationship between these metrics has to be defined or indeed the PDCCH BLER should be observed to provide the IS indication, which may introduce additional delays in the process.

Furthermore, there are challenges related to candidate beam detection, or more specifically detecting/determining which beams can be considered candidates (based on measurements on the corresponding downlink RS). Currently, measurements are based on so-called L1-RSRP, which is determined based on measurements on SS block signals (optionally using SSS and PBCH DMRS), CSI-RS signals, or a combination of both. Problems with measurements arise from the lack of filtering. That is, candidate beam detection is currently based on one L1 measurement, which may consist of multiple L1 samples, but the quality is not observed over time.

Therefore, there is room for improvement in higher layer beam management, e.g. enabling/implementing beam failure detection or beam candidate detection in higher layers such as MAC entities.

Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are intended to address at least some of the issues and/or problems and shortcomings discussed above.

Various aspects of exemplary embodiments of the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

According to an exemplary aspect of the invention, once the beam management instance indication from the lower layer is obtained, starting a beam management timer; performing beam management; is obtained, a beam management instance counter is incremented, and a beam management event is detected when the beam management instance counter reaches the beam management instance threshold before the beam management timer expires; upon expiration of a management timer, resetting a beam management instance counter.

According to an exemplary aspect of the invention, once a beam failure instance indication from a lower layer is obtained, starting a beam failure detection timer; performing beam failure detection; a beam failure instance counter is incremented whenever an instance index is obtained, and a beam failure is detected if the beam failure instance counter reaches a beam failure instance threshold before the beam failure detection timer expires; , upon expiration of a beam failure detection timer, resetting a beam failure instance counter.

According to an exemplary aspect of the invention, once a beam candidate instance indication from the lower layer is obtained, starting a beam candidate detection timer; performing beam candidate detection; a beam candidate instance counter is incremented whenever an instance index is obtained, and the beam candidate is detected if the beam candidate instance counter reaches a beam candidate instance threshold before expiration of the beam candidate detection timer; , upon expiration of a beam candidate detection timer, resetting a beam candidate instance counter.

According to an exemplary aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus adapted/configured to perform a method according to any one of the above method-related exemplary aspects of the invention.

According to an exemplary aspect of the invention, an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory containing computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code using the at least one processor to: An apparatus is provided configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: when a beam management instance indicator from lower layers (e.g., beam failure instance indicator, beam candidate instance indicator, etc.) is obtained, a beam management timer ( starting a beam failure detection timer, beam candidate detection timer, etc.) and performing beam management (e.g. beam failure detection, beam candidate A beam management instance counter (e.g. beam failure instance counter, beam candidate instance counter, etc.) is incremented and a beam management timer (e.g. beam failure detection timer, beam candidate instance counter, etc.) is incremented whenever a beam failure instance index, beam candidate instance index, etc.) is obtained. detection timer, etc.) before the beam management instance counter (e.g., beam failure instance counter, beam candidate instance counter, etc.) reaches the beam management instance threshold (e.g., beam failure instance threshold, beam candidate instance threshold, etc.). A beam management event (e.g., beam failure, beam candidate, etc.) is detected upon reaching, executing, and upon expiration of a beam management timer (e.g., beam failure detection timer, beam candidate detection timer, etc.), a beam management instance counter (e.g., beam failure instance counters, beam candidate instance counters, etc.).

According to an exemplary aspect of the invention, once a beam management instance indicator (e.g., beam failure instance indicator, beam candidate instance indicator, etc.) from lower layers is obtained, a beam management timer (e.g., beam failure detection timer, beam candidate detection timer, etc.) etc.) and means for performing beam management (e.g. beam failure detection, beam candidate detection, etc.), wherein the beam management instance indication (e.g. beam failure instance indication, beam candidate instance index, etc.) is acquired, a beam management instance counter (e.g., beam failure instance counter, beam candidate instance counter, etc.) is incremented and a beam management timer (e.g., beam failure detection timer, beam candidate detection timer, etc.) expires. A beam management event (e.g. beam failure instance threshold, beam candidate instance threshold, etc.) when a beam management instance counter (e.g. beam failure instance counter, beam candidate instance counter, etc.) has reached a beam management instance threshold (e.g. beam failure instance threshold, beam candidate instance threshold, etc.) before means for executing a beam management instance counter (e.g. beam failure instance counter) upon expiration of a beam management timer (e.g. beam failure detection timer, beam candidate detection timer, etc.) is detected; , beam candidate instance counter, etc.).

According to an exemplary aspect of the invention, a computer program product comprising (computer-executable) computer program code, which when the program code is executed (or run) on a computer, or when the program executes on the computer When run (e.g., a computer in an apparatus according to any one of the above apparatus-related exemplary aspects of the invention), the computer executes a method according to any one of the above method-related exemplary aspects of the invention. A computer program product is provided that is configured to cause:

A computer program product is a (tangible/non-transitory) computer-readable (storage) medium or the like on which computer-executable computer program code is stored and/or programs can be loaded directly into the internal memory of a computer or its processor. or embodied as such a (tangible/non-transitory) computer-readable (storage) medium.

Further developments and/or variations of the above-described exemplary aspects of the invention are given below.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention may enable/implement higher layer beam management, e.g. beam failure detection or beam candidate detection at higher layers such as MAC entities, in an improved manner.

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of beam management operable in a network element of a cellular radio access network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for beam failure detection operable in a network element of a cellular radio access network, in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a flow chart illustrating another example of a method for beam failure detection operable in a network element of a cellular radio access network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example application of a beam obstruction detection timer, in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for beam candidate detection operable in a network element of a cellular radio access network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the structure of a device, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of the functional structure of an apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

The present disclosure is described herein with reference to certain non-limiting examples and what are currently considered to be embodiments of the invention that are imaginable. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is by no means limited to these examples and embodiments, but can be broadly applied.

It should be noted that the following description of the invention and its embodiments primarily refers to specifications that are used as non-limiting examples for specific exemplary network configurations and system deployments. That is, the present invention and its embodiments are mainly described in relation to the 3GPP specifications, which are used as non-limiting examples, with particular reference to the 5G/NR standards (eg Release-15). As such, the description of the exemplary embodiments provided herein makes particular reference to terminology directly related thereto. Such terms are used only in the context of the non-limiting examples and embodiments presented and, of course, do not limit the invention in any way. Rather, any other system configuration or deployment is equally applicable so long as it complies with what is described herein and/or the example embodiments described herein are applicable thereto. can be done.

Various exemplary embodiments and implementations of the invention and aspects thereof are described below with some variations and/or alternatives. Note that in general, all of the variations and/or alternatives described may be provided singly or in any imaginable combination, subject to certain needs and constraints (various variations and/or or combinations of alternative individual features). In this description, the words "comprising" and "including" are to be understood as limiting the described example embodiments and implementations to consisting only of the recited features. Rather, such example embodiments and implementations may also include features, structures, units, modules, etc. not specifically mentioned.

In the drawings, lines/arrows interconnecting individual blocks or entities are generally intended to illustrate operable connections therebetween, and may be physical and/or logical connections. , on the one hand are implementation independent (e.g., wired or wireless), but on the other hand may include any number of intermediate functional blocks or entities not shown.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, overall, measures (methods, apparatus and computer (including program products) are provided.

The invention and its embodiments are illustrated herein as interactions between PHY/L1 and MAC, but are not limited to implementing specific functions at specific layers. By way of example, the mechanisms described herein can be implemented in L1, MAC, or both L1 and MAC.

FIG. 1 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example of a method of beam management operable in a network element of a cellular radio access network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The method of FIG. 1 is operable (can be performed by) at or by a UE or gNB in a 5G/NR radio access network according to 3GPP (eg, Release-15) specifications. More specifically, the method of FIG. 1 is operable (can be performed) on the MAC layer or--in other words--by the MAC entity of such a UE or gNB.

As shown in FIG. 1, a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention starts a beam management timer when a beam management instance indicator is obtained/received from a lower layer, e.g. and an operation (S2) of performing beam management, whenever a beam management instance indication from a lower layer, e.g., the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity, is obtained/received. An instance counter is incremented and beam management is detected when the beam management instance counter reaches a beam management instance threshold before expiration of the beam management timer, an action to perform (S2); and an operation of resetting the managed instance counter (S3). In this regard, the resetting means sets the beam management instance counter to its initialized or initialized value, eg zero.

Such basic principles of the present disclosure can be broadly applied in the context of beam management. As a non-limiting example, its application is described in more detail below for beam failure detection and candidate beam detection. Note that the general concepts described herein are equally applicable for all such applications.

Beam obstruction detection employing the basic principles of the present disclosure is described in more detail below.

for beam failure detection, the beam management timer is/includes a beam failure detection timer; the beam management instance indicator is/includes a beam failure instance indicator; the beam management instance counter is/includes a beam failure instance counter; It can be said that the management instance threshold is/includes a beam failure instance threshold, and beam failure is detected as a beam management event.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart illustrating an example of a method of beam obstruction detection operable in a network element of a cellular radio access network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The method of FIG. 2 is operable (can be performed by) at or by a UE or gNB in a 5G/NR radio access network according to 3GPP (eg, Release-15) specifications. More specifically, the method of FIG. 2 is operable (can be performed) on the MAC layer or--in other words--by the MAC entity of such a UE or gNB.

As shown in FIG. 2, the method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention starts a beam failure detection timer T when a beam failure instance indicator is obtained/received from a lower layer, eg, the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity. An act of initiating _BFI (S110) and an act of performing beam failure detection (S120) when a beam failure instance indication is obtained/received from a lower layer, e.g., the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity. the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER is incremented at any time, and a beam failure is detected when the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER reaches the beam failure instance threshold before the beam failure detection timer T _BFI expires, operations to perform (S120); , and upon expiration of the beam failure detection timer T _BFI , resetting the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER (S130). In this regard, the resetting means sets the beam obstruction instance counter BFI_COUNTER to its initialized or initialized value, namely zero.

As shown in FIG. 2, a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include an operation of performing beam failure recovery (S120) if a beam failure is detected in beam failure detection, and beam failure recovery is performed. A beam failure instance counter when a timer is started and a DL assignment or UL grant for lower layers, e.g. PDCCH, or a (positive) gNB response is received in response to a beam failure recovery request before the beam failure recovery timer expires BFI_COUNTER is reset.

In beam failure recovery, once the beam failure recovery timer is started, the beam failure detection timer T _BFI can be handled in various ways.

On the other hand, the beam failure detection timer T _BFI can be stopped. This is because when detecting a beam failure and thereby starting a beam failure recovery timer, it is not possible for the MAC to count any further beam failure instance indicators because the beam failure recovery timer monitors the recovery procedure from the MAC's point of view. It can be imagined that it is because there is a possibility that it is useless from the viewpoint of Upon successful completion of beam failure recovery (and resetting the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER), the beam failure detection T _BFI timer can be restarted as shown below.

On the other hand, the beam failure detection timer T _BFI can be run independently of the beam failure recovery timer. That is, the beam failure detection timer T _BFI can run, ie keep running, even during the beam recovery procedure, ie when the beam failure recovery timer is started and running.

In this regard, a beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER, which is initialized (initialized) to 0, is incremented whenever a beam failure instance indicator is received from the PHY/L1 layer, and the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER is the beam failure instance. Beam failure detection/recovery on the MAC layer can thus be performed in the UE in that a beam failure is detected when a threshold (set by RRC) is reached. A beam failure recovery timer is then started and a beam failure recovery request is sent to the serving gNB, thereby initiating the beam failure recovery request procedure. The beam failure recovery procedure is used to indicate a new SSB or CSI-RS to the serving gNB when a beam failure is declared on the serving SSB/CSI-RS. If the beam failure recovery timer expires, the beam failure recovery procedure is considered failed/unsuccessful and a corresponding failure indicator is provided to upper layers. If a DL assignment or UL grant for the PHY/L1 layer is received in response to a beam failure recovery request before the beam failure recovery timer expires, the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER is reset (i.e., restarts beam failure instance counting). initialized/set to 0), the beam failure recovery timer is stopped and reset, and the beam failure recovery procedure is considered successfully completed.

In the exemplary method of FIG. 2, a beam failure detection timer T _BFI is started upon acquisition/receipt of a beam failure instance indication from lower layers. This beam obstruction instance indicator may be the first beam obstruction instance indicator when/after the beam obstruction instance counter BFI_COUNTER is initialized or reset.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating another example of a method operable in a network element of a cellular radio access network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The method of FIG. 3 is operable (can be performed by) at or by a UE or gNB in a 5G/NR radio access network according to 3GPP (eg, Release-15) specifications. More specifically, the method of FIG. 3 is operable (can be performed) on the MAC layer or--in other words--by the MAC entity of such a UE or gNB.

As shown in FIG. 3, the method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an operation (S210) of initializing a beam obstruction instance counter BFI_COUNTER to its initialized or initialized value, namely 0. . When the operation of obtaining/receiving a beam failure instance indication from a lower layer, eg, the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity (S220) occurs, an operation of starting a beam failure detection timer T _BFI (S230) is performed. An operation to perform beam failure detection/recovery (S240) is then performed, similar to the method of FIG. 2 as described above. In that case, when a beam failure is detected (because the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER reaches the beam failure instance threshold), the beam failure recovery timer is started and the beam failure detection timer T _BFI is stopped. Upon successful completion of beam failure recovery, the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER is reset and the beam failure detection timer T _BFI is restarted (if subsequent beam failure instance indications are obtained/received). During or after performing beam failure detection/recovery, the operation of determining whether the beam failure detection timer T _BFI has expired (S250) and (further) the beam failure instance indicator is sent to lower layers, e.g., the PHY/L1 layer or There is an operation (S260) to determine if it is obtained/received from a PHY/L1 entity.

If it is determined that the beam failure detection timer T _BFI has expired (YES at S250), the method proceeds to the operation of resetting the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER (S270) and returns to S220 for subsequent beam failure instance indicators. is obtained/received from lower layers, eg, the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity. Otherwise, if it is determined that the beam failure detection timer T _BFI has not expired (“No” at S250), the method proceeds to S260.

(Furthermore), if it is determined that no beam obstruction instance indicator is obtained/received from a lower layer, e.g., the PHY/L1 layer or the PHY/L1 entity ("No" in S260), the method returns to S250 and sets the beam obstruction detection timer T Check for expiration of _BFI . Otherwise, if it is determined (yes in S260) that the beam failure instance indication was obtained/received from a lower layer, e.g., the PHY/L1 layer or the PHY/L1 entity, then the method returns to S230 and Restart the failure detection timer T _BFI .

In the exemplary method of FIG. 3, when/after the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER is initialized or reset, the beam A fault detection timer T _BFI is started. Moreover, the beam failure detection timer T _BFI is restarted whenever further/subsequent beam failure instance indications are obtained/received from lower layers.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an example application of a beam failure detection timer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 4 illustrates an example application of a beam failure detection timer according to the method of FIG. The figure shows the case where

In FIG. 4, the lower level indicated by PHY represents the layer/entity of PHY/L1 as an example of a lower layer or lower layer entity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and the upper level indicated by MAY is , represents the MAC layer/entity as an example of a higher layer or higher layer entity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Arrows from left to right represent (elapse of) time.

The PHY/L1 layer/entity periodically evaluates a hypothetical PDCCH BLER with respect to beam failure instance conditions, eg, predetermined thresholds. If a beam failure instance is observed at a dedicated periodic timing, e.g. if a hypothetical PDCCH BLER exceeds a predetermined threshold, this is reported to the MAC layer/entity with a beam failure instance indicator (long vertical black fill (represented by closed block arrows). If no beam failure instance is observed at a dedicated periodic timing, e.g. hypothetical PDCCH BLER does not exceed a predetermined threshold, this is indicated to the MAC layer/entity (represented by a short vertical dashed block arrow shown). Upon receiving a beam failure instance indication from the PHY/L1 layer/entity, the MAC layer/entity restarts/starts the beam failure detection timer _TBFI . That is, the timer is started when a beam failure instance indication is received when the beam failure detection timer T _BFI is not running, while the timer is started when the beam failure detection timer T _BFI is running. It is restarted (reset) when an instance index is received.

Although not shown in FIG. 4, the beam obstruction instance counter BFI_COUNTER is incremented whenever the MAC layer/entity receives a beam obstruction indication. If the beam failure detection timer T _BFI expires (i.e. its specified duration has elapsed) without receiving a beam failure instance indication from the PHY/L1 layer/entity, i.e. the MAC layer/entity determines the duration of the timer. If no lower layer indication has been received during the MAC layer/entity resets the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER, i.e. sets the beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER to its initialized or initialized value i.e. 0 set to The MAC layer/entity then continues to monitor beam failure instances indicated by the PHY/L1 layer/entity and the beam failure instance counting is reinitialized/initialized.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the beam failure detection timer T _BFI prevents the timer from being reset/restarted for each beam failure instance indication from PHY/L1, and BFI_COUNTER indicates that the beam failure detection timer T _BFI is running. can be implemented so that it is incremented only when A beam failure detection timer T _BFI is running and a beam failure is detected/declared when BFI_COUNTER reaches the beam failure instance threshold. In some examples, when the timer expires, BFI_COUNTER is reset to its initial value or decremented by one (or any other number of minutes).

In the following, candidate beam detection employing the basic principles of the present disclosure will be described in more detail.

For candidate beam detection, the beam management timer is/includes the beam candidate detection timer, the beam management instance index is/includes the beam candidate instance index, the beam management instance counter is/includes the beam candidate instance counter, the beam It can be said that the management instance threshold is/includes the beam candidate instance threshold, and the candidate beam is detected as a beam management event.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method of beam candidate detection operable in a network element of a cellular radio access network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The method of FIG. 5 is operable (can be performed by) at or by a UE or gNB in a 5G/NR radio access network according to 3GPP (eg, Release-15) specifications. More specifically, the method of FIG. 5 is operable (can be performed) on the MAC layer or--in other words--by the MAC entity of such a UE or gNB.

As shown in FIG. 5, the method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention starts a beam candidate detection timer T upon obtaining/receiving a beam candidate instance indicator from a lower layer, eg, the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity. An act of initiating a _CANDIDATE (S510) and an act of performing beam candidate detection (S520) when a beam candidate instance indication from a lower layer, e.g., the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity, is obtained/received. increments a beam candidate instance counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER at any time, and a candidate beam is detected if the beam candidate instance counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER reaches the beam candidate instance threshold before the beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE expires, operations to perform (S520); , and upon expiration of the beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE , resetting the beam candidate instance counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER (S530). In this regard, the resetting means sets the beam candidate instance counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER to its initialized or initialized value, namely zero.

In general, such illustrated methods, ie timers so applied and their associated operations, are applicable for each potential candidate beam. Thus, beam candidate detection basically detects/determines whether the target beam in question is a good candidate beam. Of course, this can be implemented for multiple potential candidate beams, and beam candidate detection for multiple target beams can be performed (at least in part) in parallel or sequentially.

The PHY/L1 layer/entity optionally periodically evaluates beam candidate instance conditions for potential candidate beams. If a beam candidate instance is observed at a dedicated periodic timing, this is indicated to the MAC layer/entity as a beam candidate instance indicator. A beam candidate instance condition for the lower layer is if the signal quality measurement for the potential candidate beam is above a predetermined quality threshold or if the block error rate on the physical downlink control channel is below a predetermined error threshold. If so, it can be satisfied. If a beam candidate instance is not observed with dedicated periodic timing, it is not indicated to the MAC layer/entity. Upon receiving a beam candidate instance indication from the PHY/L1 layer/entity, the MAC layer/entity restarts/starts the beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE . That is, the timer is started when a beam candidate instance indicator is received when the beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE is not running, while the timer is started when the beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE is running. It is restarted (reset) when an instance index is received.

Regarding the beam candidate instance condition, this is based on measurements corresponding to the corresponding downlink RS, for SS block signals (optionally using SSS and PBCH DMRS), CSI-RS signals, or a combination of both. Note that it is based on the so-called L1-RSRP, which is determined based on measurements. A beam candidate instance condition may be satisfied if the measured value (L1-RSRP) is above a set threshold. For example, if the UE measures (signal quality measurements of) potential candidate beams such as downlink RS, SS block/CSI-RS, above the configured quality threshold (RSRP/RSRQ), or configure When measuring (of error quality measurements of) potential candidate beams such as observed/hypothetical BLER below a specified error threshold (e.g. 2%), at least in the current measurement instance/timing A target beam can be thought of as a potential beam.

Therefore, for candidate beam detection, timer T _CANDIDATE works in conjunction with counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER to calculate the appropriate measurement (L1-RSRP) with respect to the set threshold. A timer _{T_CANDIDATE} is started when the UE measures a potential candidate beam that is eg above a configured quality threshold or below a configured error threshold. When the UE again measures the candidate beam signal quality above the configured quality threshold or below the configured error threshold, the timer _{T_CANDIDATE} is restarted and the counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER is incremented by one. If the measured value is below the configured quality threshold or above the configured error threshold, the timer _{T_CANDIDATE} keeps running. When the timer _{T_CANDIDATE} expires, the counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER is set to 0 (zero). When the counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER reaches the configured maximum value, the beam is considered a candidate beam from which the UE can attempt recovery when a beam failure is detected. Thus, beam candidate detection procedures according to exemplary embodiments of the invention may be used in conjunction with beam failure recovery procedures (eg, as described above in the context of beam failure detection) according to exemplary embodiments of the invention, or beam failure recovery. Can be implemented within a procedure.

It is therefore clear that the principles and operations as described above for beam obstruction detection apply globally for beam candidate detection in the same measurement. For example, although not shown, the operational flow and overview as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 for beam obstruction detection are equally applicable for beam candidate detection.

As indicated above, timer T _CANDIDATE is run for each detected/potential candidate beam (SS block/CSI-RS).

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE prevents the timer from being reset/restarted for each beam candidate instance index from PHY/L1, and CANDIDATE_COUNTER is the beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE running. It can also be implemented so that it is incremented only when A beam candidate is detected/determined when the CANDIDATE_COUNTER reaches the beam candidate instance threshold when the beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE is running. In some examples, when the timer expires, the CANDIDATE_COUNTER is reset to its initial value or decremented by one (or any other number of minutes).

In general, a beam management timer (e.g., beam failure detection timer T _BFI or beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE ) receives a beam management instance indication (e.g., beam failure instance indication or beam For monitoring beam management (e.g., beam failure detection or beam candidate detection) to the MAC layer or at the MAC entity based on the candidate instance index), a specified time period can be configured to count. Such specified time periods can be set by network elements (such as gNBs) via higher layer signaling (such as RRC) and can be defined in technical specifications (such as 3GPP specifications) or Defined by specification or determined based on a beam management instance threshold (eg, beam failure instance threshold or beam candidate instance threshold). Beam management timer (e.g. beam failure detection timer T _BFI or beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE ) or its specified period/length/duration in units of time (e.g. milliseconds) or on the PHY/L1 layer can be defined in units of slots/symbols (which would then depend on the counting scheme used in the PHY/L1 layer). In some examples, the interval between possible beam management instance indicators (e.g. beam failure instance indicators or beam candidate instance indicators) from PHY/L1 is defined in the technical specification and a beam management timer (e.g. beam failure detection timer The T _BFI or beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE ) can be configured to count the number of such intervals.

In general, beam management instance indicators from lower layers (eg, beam failure instance indicators or beam candidate instance indicators) can indicate that beam failure instance conditions for lower layers have been satisfied. A beam failure instance condition for lower layers may be met if the block error rate on the physical downlink control channel exceeds a predetermined threshold, eg, if the hypothetical PDCCH BLER exceeds a predetermined threshold. The beam candidate instance condition for the lower layer is if the signal quality measurement is above a predetermined quality threshold, e.g. or if the block error rate on the physical downlink control channel is below a predetermined error threshold, eg, if the hypothetical PDCCH BLER is below a predetermined threshold.

As a brief (non-limiting) overview of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a new timer (e.g. beam failure detection timer T _BFI or beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE ) is implemented in the PHY/L1 layer/ Introduced in the MAC layer/entity to monitor beam management (e.g. beam failure detection or beam candidate detection) based on beam management instance indications (e.g. beam failure instance indications or beam candidate instance indications) received from the entity:
Upon receiving the (first) beam management instance indication from the PHY/L1 layer/entity, a timer is started.
Beam management based on the beam management instance counter if a configured number of beam management instance indicators (corresponding to the beam management instance threshold) are received from the PHY/L1 layer/entity before the timer expires is carried out.
Upon every beam management instance indication from the PHY/L1 layer/entity, the timer can be restarted.
Upon expiration of the timer, the beam management instance counter is reset, ie set to zero.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as described above, a beam management timer (e.g., a beam failure detection timer T _BFI or a beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE ) controls beams received from the PHY/L1 layer or PHY/L1 entity. It is applied to monitor beam management (eg beam failure detection or beam candidate detection) to the MAC layer or at the MAC entity based on management instance indicators (eg beam failure instance indicators or beam candidate instance indicators). Such application of a beam management timer (e.g. beam failure detection timer T _BFI or beam candidate detection timer T _CANDIDATE ) periodically resets a beam management instance counter (e.g. beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER or beam candidate instance counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER). can ensure that Therefore, the beam management instance counter (e.g. beam failure instance counter BFI_COUNTER or beam candidate instance counter CANDIDATE_COUNTER) is incremented, i.e. the number of beam management instance indices (e.g. beam failure instance index or beam candidate instance index) is inappropriately excessive. can be ensured that improper or inaccurate beam management (e.g., beam failure detection or beam candidate detection) is not made due to the accumulation of .

It causes the MAC layer/entity to perform beam failure/candidate detection due to excessive accumulation of the number of beam failure/candidate instance indicators without resetting the counters, making beam failure/candidate (detection) events unnecessary. declaring the decisions can be avoided (in terms of beam candidate detection). These advantages can even be achieved without requiring the definition of any "in sync" schemes such as IS indicators and corresponding IS conditions as in RLM procedures under the 3GPP 5G/NR standard. .

The above techniques are used between user equipment elements and base station elements, such as UEs in 3GPP 5G/NR (eg Release-15) systems, where the radio link is based on one or more beams subject to beam management. It is advantageous in all deployments regarding radio link management and radio resource control for the radio link between the GNB and the gNB.

The methods, procedures and functions described above may be implemented by individual functional elements, entities, modules, units, processors, etc., as described below.

Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described primarily with reference to methods, procedures, and functions, the corresponding exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as individual devices, entities, modules, units, network nodes, and so on. , and/or systems that include both software and/or hardware thereof.

Individual exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, but for the sake of brevity, each corresponding configuration/setup, scheme, method and method according to FIGS. Reference is made to the detailed description of functionality, principles and operation.

6 and 7, the blocks are basically arranged to implement the individual methods, procedures and/or functions described above. The blocks as a whole are basically arranged to implement the methods, procedures and/or functions described above, respectively. Note that with respect to Figures 6 and 7, individual blocks are intended to illustrate individual functional blocks implementing individual functions, processes, or procedures, respectively. Such functional blocks are implementation independent, ie each can be implemented by any kind of hardware or software, or a combination thereof.

Moreover, FIGS. 6 and 7 only illustrate functional blocks associated with any one of the methods, procedures and/or functions described above. Those skilled in the art will recognize the existence of any other conventional functional blocks required for the operation of the individual architectural arrangements, such as power supplies, central processing units, individual memories, and the like. . A program or program for, among other things, controlling or enabling individual functional entities or any combination thereof to function as described herein in connection with the illustrative embodiments One or more memories are provided for storing instructions.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the structure of a device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, device 600 may comprise at least one processor 610 and at least one memory 620 (and possibly also at least one interface 630). and they can each be operatively connected or coupled, such as by a bus 640 or the like.

Processor 610 and/or interface 630 of device 600 may also each include a modem or the like to facilitate communication over (hardwired or wireless) links. The interface 630 of the apparatus 600 may be connected or connected to one or more antenna units such as antennas, antenna arrays or communication equipment, or communication means (hardwired or wireless) with linked, coupled or connected devices. Appropriate transmitters, receivers, or transceivers coupled together may be included, respectively. Interface 630 of apparatus 600 is generally configured to communicate with at least one other apparatus, device, node, or entity (particularly its interface).

The memory 620 of the device 600 represents a (non-transitory/tangible) storage medium and can store individual software, programs, program products, macros, applets, etc., or parts thereof, which are It may be assumed to contain program instructions or computer program code which, when executed by a respective processor, enable a respective electronic device or apparatus to function in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Additionally, memory 620 of device 600 can store (or comprise a database for) any data, information, etc. used during operation of the device.

In general, individual devices (and/or portions thereof) may represent means for performing individual actions and/or exhibiting individual functionality, and/or individual A device (and/or portions thereof) may have functionality to perform a particular action and/or to exhibit a particular functionality.

In view of the above, and as described herein, the apparatus 600 so illustrated is suitable for use in practicing one or more of the exemplary embodiments of the invention.

In the following description, when a processor (or some other means) is said to be configured to perform some function, this is possibly computer program code stored in the memory of the respective device. (i.e., at least one) A processor or equivalent circuitry should be interpreted as equivalent to a statement stating that it is configured to cause the device to perform at least the functions so recited.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the device 600 so illustrated may represent or implement/embodied (part of) a network element of a cellular radio access network. Specifically, the apparatus 600 so illustrated may be (part of) a UE or a gNB in a 5G/NR radio access network according to 3GPP specifications. More specifically, apparatus 600 as so depicted may represent a MAC layer or MAC entity of such a UE or gNB. Thus, the device 600 so illustrated may perform procedures and/or exhibit functionality and/or implement mechanisms such as those described in any one of FIGS. Configured.

Thus, when a beam management instance indication from the lower layer is obtained, starting a beam management timer and performing beam management whenever a beam management instance indication from the lower layer is obtained. A beam management instance counter is incremented and a beam management event is detected when the beam management instance counter reaches a beam management instance threshold before the beam management timer expires; and resetting the management instance counter. but in its most basic form can be configured to do so.

An example use case from a beam failure detection perspective is starting a beam failure detection timer and performing beam failure detection when a beam failure instance indication from a lower layer is obtained; a beam failure instance counter is incremented whenever a beam failure instance indicator from is obtained, and a beam failure is detected when the beam failure instance counter reaches the beam failure instance threshold before expiration of the beam failure detection timer; and resetting the beam failure instance counter upon expiration of the beam failure detection timer, or the device 600 or at least one of its processors 610 can be caused to do so. can be configured to

An exemplary use case from a beam candidate detection perspective is to start a beam candidate detection timer and perform beam candidate detection once a beam candidate instance indicator from the lower layer is obtained, wherein the lower layer a beam candidate instance counter is incremented whenever a beam candidate instance index from is obtained, and the beam candidate is detected if the beam candidate instance counter reaches the beam candidate instance threshold before expiration of the beam candidate detection timer; and resetting the beam candidate instance counter upon expiration of the beam candidate detection timer, or the apparatus 600 or at least one processor 610 thereof may cause them to do so. can be configured to

As mentioned above, the apparatus according to the exemplary embodiments of the invention can be structured by comprising individual units or means for performing corresponding acts, procedures and/or functions. For example, such a unit or means may be a device such as illustrated in FIG. 6, i. can be implemented/realized based on the structure of

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram illustrating another example of the functional structure of the device, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, an apparatus 700 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a cellular radio such as a UE or gNB in a 5G/NR radio access network according to 3GPP specifications, or a MAC layer or MAC entity of such a UE or gNB. It may represent (part of) a network element of a radio access network. Such an apparatus comprises (at least) a unit or means for starting a beam management timer (denoted as beam management timer starting unit/means 710) when a beam management instance indication from lower layers is obtained; A beam management instance counter is incremented whenever the beam management instance index of is obtained, and a beam management event is detected when the beam management instance counter reaches the beam management instance threshold before the beam management timer expires. A unit or means for performing beam management (denoted as beam management execution unit/means 720) and a unit or means for resetting a beam management instance counter (beam management instance counter reset unit/means 730).

As is evident from the above, any one of the beam management timer starting unit/means 710, the beam management executing unit/means 720, and the beam management instance counter resetting unit/means 730 can be used for beam failure detection and beam failure detection, respectively, as described above. It can be structured in terms of example use cases in terms of candidate detection.

For further details regarding the operability/functionality of the individual devices (or units/means thereof) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, reference is made to the above description of any one of FIGS. 1-5, respectively.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, any one of (at least one) processor, (at least one) memory and (at least one) interface, and any one of the illustrated units/means: They may be implemented as individual modules, chips, chipsets, circuits, etc., or one or more of them may each be implemented as a common module, chip, chipset, circuits, etc.

According to exemplary embodiments of the invention, the system comprises any imaginable combination of any shown or described devices and other network elements or functional entities configured to work together as described above. can be done.

In general, individual functional blocks or elements according to the above-described aspects may be implemented in hardware and/or software by any known means, if only configured to perform the described functions of the individual portions. Note that each can be implemented in either. The method steps referred to may be implemented in separate functional blocks or by separate devices, or one or more of the method steps may be implemented in a single functional block or by a single device.

In general, any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the inventive concept. Such software can be software code independent, as long as the functionality defined by the method steps is maintained, and can be written in any known or future programming language such as Java, C++, C, and assembler. can be specified using a programming language developed in Such hardware is for example using ASIC (Application Specific IC (Integrated Circuit)) components, FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) components, CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) components, or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components. , can be hardware type independent, MOS (metal oxide semiconductor), CMOS (complementary MOS), BiMOS (bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (bipolar CMOS), ECL (emitter coupled logic), TTL (transistor- transistor logic) or any future developed hardware technology or any hybrid of these. A device/apparatus may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such a chip or chipset, which means that the functionality of the device/apparatus or module is implemented in hardware. It does not exclude the possibility of being implemented as software in (software) modules such as a computer program or computer program product containing executable software code portions for execution/running on a processor. Devices, whether functionally linked to each other or functionally independent of each other, e.g. can be viewed as

The apparatus and/or units/means or parts thereof may be implemented as individual devices, but it should be noted that they may be implemented in a distributed manner within the system as long as the functionality of the devices is maintained. not excluded. Such principles, and similar principles, are believed to be known to those skilled in the art.

Software in the sense of this description stores software code itself, including code means or parts, or computer programs or computer program products, as well as individual data structures or code means/parts, for performing individual functions. software (or computer program or computer program product) embodied on a tangible medium, such as a computer readable (storage) medium, or possibly in a signal or chip during its processing included.

The present invention also extends to any imaginable combination of the above method steps and acts, and to any imaginable combination of the above nodes, devices, modules or elements, so long as the above concepts of methods and structural arrangements are applicable. Combinations are also covered.

In view of the above, measures are provided to enable/realize higher layer beam management, e.g. beam failure detection or beam candidate detection at higher layers such as MAC entities. Such measures are illustratively that a beam management timer is started and beam management is performed when a (first) beam management instance indicator from lower layers is obtained, A beam management instance counter is incremented whenever a beam management instance indicator from lower layers is obtained, and a beam management event is detected when the beam management instance counter reaches the beam management instance threshold before the beam management timer expires. and upon expiration of the beam management timer, the beam management instance counter is reset.

While the invention is described above with reference to examples according to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Rather, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

List of acronyms and abbreviations 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project BFI Beam Failure Instance BLER Block Error Rate C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity CSI-RS Channel State Information Reference Signal DL Downlink DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal gNB Next Generation Node B (i.e. 5G/NR base station)
IS In-Sync (index)
L1 Layer 1/Radio Layer MAC Medium Access Control NR New Radio
OOS Out-of-sync (index)
PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel PHY Physical Layer PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PSS Primary Synchronization Signal RLF Radio Link Failure RLM Radio Link Monitoring RLM-RS Radio Link Monitoring Reference Signal RRC Radio Resource Control RS Reference Signal RSRP Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality SINR Signal to Interference Noise Ratio SS Synchronization Signal SSB Synchronization Signal Block SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal UE User Equipment UL Uplink

Claims (23)

starting a beam failure detection timer upon obtaining a beam failure instance indication from lower layers;
performing beam failure detection , wherein a beam failure instance counter is incremented whenever a beam failure instance indicator from said lower layer is obtained, and said beam failure instance counter is incremented before said beam failure detection timer expires; A beam failure is detected when a beam failure instance threshold is reached, and said beam failure detection timer is set by a network element and defined in or dictated by a technical specification, or said beam failure instance is reached. said performing configured to count a specified time period comprising one or more intervals for a beam obstruction instance indicator determined based on a threshold ;
upon expiration of the beam failure detection timer, resetting the beam failure instance counter. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam failure detection timer is started when a first beam failure instance indicator from the lower layer is obtained when the beam failure instance counter is initialized or reset. 3. The beam failure detection timer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the beam failure detection timer is restarted whenever a beam failure detection instance indication from the lower layer is obtained and/or a beam failure recovery procedure is successfully completed. Method. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a beam failure instance indication from a lower layer indicates that a beam failure instance condition for said lower layer is satisfied. The beam failure instance counter is incremented whenever a beam failure instance indicator from the lower layer is obtained, and the beam failure instance counter reaches the beam failure instance threshold before the beam failure detection timer expires. and beam obstruction are detected. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein a beam failure instance condition for said lower layer is satisfied if a block error rate on a physical downlink control channel exceeds a predetermined threshold. If a beam obstruction is detected in the beam obstruction detection, the method comprises:
performing beam failure recovery wherein a beam failure recovery timer is started and a downlink assignment or uplink grant for said lower layer is received in response to a beam failure recovery request prior to expiration of said beam failure recovery timer; 7. The method of claim 5 or 6, further comprising: resetting the beam obstruction instance counter. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein in beam failure recovery, the beam failure detection timer is stopped when the beam failure recovery timer is started. 9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said initiating, executing and resetting are implemented on a medium access control layer and/or by a medium access control entity. Method. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 , wherein said lower layer is the physical layer or the radio layer and/or any beam failure instance indication is provided by a physical or radio layer entity. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 , wherein said method is operable in or by a user equipment element or base station element. 1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory containing computer program code, said at least one memory and said computer program code being transmitted to said apparatus using said at least one processor. starting a beam obstruction detection timer when a beam obstruction instance indicator from is obtained;
performing beam failure detection , wherein a beam failure instance counter is incremented whenever a beam failure instance indicator from said lower layer is obtained, and said beam failure instance counter is incremented before said beam failure detection timer expires; A beam failure is detected when a beam failure instance threshold is reached, and said beam failure detection timer is set by a network element and defined in or dictated by a technical specification, or said beam failure instance is reached. said performing configured to count a specified time period comprising one or more intervals for a beam obstruction instance indicator determined based on a threshold ;
upon expiration of the beam failure detection timer, resetting the beam failure instance counter. 13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the beam failure detection timer is started upon obtaining a first beam failure instance indicator from the lower layer when the beam failure instance counter is initialized or reset. 14. Apparatus according to claim 12 or 13 , wherein the beam failure detection timer is restarted whenever a beam failure instance indication from the lower layer is obtained and/or a beam failure recovery procedure is successfully completed. . Apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 14 , wherein a beam failure instance indication from a lower layer indicates that a beam failure instance condition for said lower layer is satisfied. The beam failure instance counter is incremented whenever a beam failure instance indicator from the lower layer is obtained, and the beam failure instance counter reaches the beam failure instance threshold before the beam failure detection timer expires. and beam obstruction are detected . 17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein a beam failure instance condition for said lower layer is satisfied if a block error rate on a physical downlink control channel exceeds a predetermined threshold. If a beam obstruction is detected in the beam obstruction detection, the device:
performing beam failure recovery wherein a beam failure recovery timer is started and a downlink assignment or uplink grant for said lower layer is received in response to a beam failure recovery request prior to expiration of said beam failure recovery timer; 18. Apparatus according to claim 16 or 17 , further configured to perform: resetting the beam failure instance counter. 19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein in beam failure recovery, the beam failure detection timer is stopped when the beam failure recovery timer is started. 20. A method according to any one of claims 12 to 19 , wherein said initiating, executing and resetting are implemented on a medium access control layer and/or by a medium access control entity. Device. An apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 20 , wherein said lower layer is the physical layer or the radio layer and/or any beam failure instance indication is provided by a physical or radio layer entity. An apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 21 , wherein the apparatus is operable in a user equipment element or base station element or operable as a user equipment element or base station element. A computer program product comprising computer program code adapted to, when run on a computer, cause said computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-11 .

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